The Board of Education, on February 5, approved a District-wide door-lock replacement initiative - begun last June - that involved retrofitting classrooms at all 11 New Haven schools with door-locking devices and new peepholes. As part of the project, the District also identified and replaced sub-standard and damaged doors to enhance safety and security.

All New Haven classrooms now are equipped with locking devices that allow the doors to be secured from inside the rooms, protecting students and staff from a hostile intruder threat. The added peepholes allow staff to safely identify a threat from inside the locked room.

ÒBy installing the new locksets we have added a critical element to the DistrictÕs emergency lockdown and shelter-in-place plan,Ó Chief Business Officer Akur Varadarajan said.